I saw Kim and Louis for the last time as I lingered on the path towards the entrance of the Terracotta Army Pits… I have a dream and a wish of meeting them again in some strange corner of the world…
But at that moment there I was, about to fulfill for Judy her own wish… an arm and a leg to see the Terracotta Soldiers… A 2200 year-old clay army ready to serve Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi’s afterlife military endavours..
It should not have been a surprise to find the site so highly organized, but while traveling from Xian on bus 306 I imagined myself descending into a clay necropolis surrounded by farm fields… Not so… yet, though housed in museum-style constructions the pits are awesomely surreal…
Over eight thousand life-size pottery pieces! One pit contained 6000 warriors. The figures were constructed using loops of coiled clay; hands and heads were fired as separate moulds that loosely fitted into open wrist and neck sockets. Each figure sculpted with individual facial expressions and hairstyles.
Judy told me that though faded by exposure to air, originally the figures were painted in vivid colours and equipped with swords, spears, bows and arrows…
Justifiably the pits are dim and protectively fenced off, but making it difficult to admire the figures’s individuality or take a respectable photo. Up to that moment I resisted temptation to buy souvenirs, but as I exited the Pits I was approached by cheery teenagers offering cut-down replicas of boxed warriors… for Judy…
Text and Photos Coyright©2008 M.Della Marina
1 comment:
very interesting soldiers
Rina
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